ICLRS: Advancing Religious Freedom in Different Political Regimes

Introduction

Webinar Advancing Religious Freedom in Different Political Regimes held on 7 June 2021 to highlight opportunities and successful stories, as well as challenges and failures in promoting religious freedom globally. Each panelist reported on their work in respective political regimes, including Myanmar, Iraq, Turkey, and the work that the International Center for Law and Religion Studies has done with different political regimes.

Summary Reports

Webinar

Introduction

The ICLRS webinar discussed issues and methods for advancing religious freedoms internationally, pulling examples from Myanmar and Turkey. This report provides a brief summary of the discussion organized by panelist presentation. Responses to the question and answer section are also included in the report.

Brett G. Scharffs

Scharffs briefly spoke about the effectiveness of sustained engagement in advancing religious freedom. He emphasized the importance of religious freedom and human dignity in various institutional complexes and how there is a need for recognition of such concepts in different circumstances. These efforts need to be consistent and ongoing. He also explained that religious freedom programs worldwide seek to connect people despite their religious differences.

Seng Mai Aung

Seng Mai Aung discussed the ICLRS religious freedom training program in Myanmar. A reconciliation and peacebuilding initiative was launched to help community members address religious freedom issues because of exacerbating international religious disputes between Buddhists and Muslims in Rakhine State. The priority of the initiative is to identify essential constituents and respond to local issues and interests. The most practical approach uses persistent attention to local interests to show continued involvement between the local leaders and ICLRS as trust with local leaders is key to the training program’s success. The program emphasizes political interest and aims to bring individuals of different religious groups closer through open and constructive dialogue. This initiative is a big step for Myanmar who previously treated religious freedom as a study separate from secular concerns.

Jan Figel

Figel’s presentation examined the betterment of a growing global religious freedom movement that sparked during the COVID-19 pandemic. He stated that religious freedom is a measure, principal, and instrument to peace; and that this peace will bring about justice. Figel shared that religious freedom is the deepest expression of human dignity and personal freedom, making it vital for a just society and critical to all people’s rights. He pointed out that there is a more just and human way through the ICLRS’s work to approach issues of religious freedom and human dignity throughout the world. One example was the International Religious Freedom Act in 1998 in the United States.

In closing remarks to his presentation, Figel focused on the actions of religious freedom and the reciprocality of ethics. The concepts of ethics and recognition of dignity work together because they are both “deeply human”, referring to their relationship to innate rights that humans have. Overall, action and education are needed in the emerging global religious freedom movement. That push for religious freedom will promote ethical and cultural dignities and will become a legal and dignifying way of being a global citizen.

Mine Yildirim

Mine Yildirim is a human rights defender based in Turkey who runs the Freedom of Belief Initiative. An important part of the initiative is advocating human rights and using compliance to implement religious freedom in Turkey and internationally. Yildirim stated that the human rights approach and constructive discussion on religious freedom are paradigms for a nation to recognize violations against such concepts. In turn, nations can be examples to others and initiate treaties as a compliance-control mechanism which can promote the freedom of religion locally. Through this approach, nations and regions are prompted to join the Freedom of Belief initiative through compliance rather than force by inspiring the nations through example and practice. The compliance approach can also connect the nations to a larger framework and network of countries with the same goals of promoting religious freedom and human dignity.

Yildirim also emphasized the importance of trust building and long-term engagement, arguing that religious freedom is a sensitive topic that requires a principled and organized approach. A start of such an approach can be as simple as nations creating genuine relationships with local authorities and seeking their expertise on religious liberty issues they experience or witness.

Knox Thames

Thames is a senior fellow at the Institute for Global Engagement. He discussed his envoy experience working for the U.S. State Department where he frequently visited Iraq to find solutions to the diminishing religious minority populations. In Thames’ work with the State Department, he addressed two major issues: the lack of security for minorities and ISIS’s destruction of cultural heritage. The lack of security refers to Iraqi Christians and other religious minorities being attacked and driven out of Iraq by terrorist and militia groups. Thames’ solution was to have minorities play an active role in their own security. In response to ISIS’s destruction of the cultural heritage of Muslims and Christians, Thames helped send cultural heritage experts from the Smithsonian Institution to Iraq to teach religious minorities about the protection of their heritage.

While these solutions are small steps in addressing the challenges of religious minorities in Iraq, it is important to recognize that time and continuous effort play a key role in the resolution of such issues. Thames concluded by saying the religious freedom issues in Iraq are a challenge of perseverance, and both the international community and religious groups need to stick to the vision that people of different backgrounds and faiths can exist together.

Elizabeth Clark

Elizabeth Clark is an associate director for the ICLRS. She presented on her assessment and promotion of compliance with international norms of religious freedom and belief. There are two theories regarding state compliance with international norms. The first theory has three approaches to influencing human rights compliance. There is the rational choice model where economic incentives encourage change. The constructivist model uses repeated interactions, discussion, and exposure to norms to build trust and bring the “best practices” in law to fruition. The last approach is a sociological and psychological approach called acculturation that uses cognitive and social pressures to conform to international norms.

The second theory is called the spiral model. It describes how regimes move from a state of repression to rule consistency behavior by examining domestic and international players and the influences that socialization and changes in norms play out within a country. There are five steps to this spiral starting with repression and denial, which increases repression; at which point, the government recognizes the repression and then accepts the reputational consequences. Afterwhich, the government makes tactical concessions that lead to the prescriptive status of human rights norms being accepted which generates consistent behavior.

Q&A

What does not work

During the panel discussion, the speakers highlighted methods that will not work when advocating for religious freedom within a nation. One example is when there are incorrect facts about a nation’s religious freedom norms and policies, credibility is lost; therefore, it is important to have the correct information and relate this to each country’s circumstances. Additionally, it is important to be cautious using the word ‘persecution’. While there are some extreme versions, persecution is not the best word to describe all limits on religious freedom. It is also important to focus on advocating for all religious groups and to avoid long-term advocacy for one group. Although certain groups might be more oppressed at a time, it is necessary that we advocate religious freedom for every group. When sharing the importance of religious freedom internationally, there will be better communication when ideas are proposed rather than imposed. States would rather be recommended plans than told what to do.. When advocating for religious freedom, the greatest success will be achieved by being aware of and avoiding methods that do not work.

How to deal with the “Westernization problem”

There is concern that the concept of religious freedom and human rights is strictly a Western concept pushed onto other countries to get them to conform to these values. Through the seminar, the speakers highlighted that the goal is not to push Western ideas onto people but to encourage nations to look to international norms for human dignity. For instance, it is important to recognize the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which is a product of persons from all over the world. This can be accomplished by increasing literacy in human rights. By looking at the drafting history for the Universal Declaration, it is clear that it is not a western product. To encourage a perspective that focuses on the universal application of these concepts, it is necessary to take time to understand the approaches locally and communicate with the people within the regime to see their concerns and to see how human dignity and religious freedom concerns match up with their own.

Treat others how you want to be treated

 
A theme of the discussion surrounded treating other nations how you would want your own nation treated. In promoting security, having more stable governments, and improving religious freedoms, respectful treatment will come through knowing local citizens and leaders. It will work with patience, credibility, and deeds. Advocating for all groups and avoiding isolation is an important part of considerate treatment. As Mine Yildrim pointed out, this will happen when we pay close attention to our own local groups. Looking to our own local groups can help us to work however within our space, and within our own expertise. Better success in advocating will come from focusing on areas that we have knowledge in so we can make an impact.

When working with other nations to advocate for religious freedom and human dignity, achieving a balance of understanding when there is a disconnect with local authorities is an important part of the process. This disconnect often comes about through intergovernmental channels, such as government organizations and resources. However, it is important to know the local institutional context, and how local leaders are handling it. Understanding the local norms can help religious freedom advocates know where their help is needed. In the end, this balance will enable both authorities and the public to come to a point where perspectives and expectations may be shared and communicated fairly and peacefully.